Former Butyrka Doctor Acquitted of Negligence Charges in Magnitsky Case

The Moscow Times

Dec. 28 2012 00:00

Last edited 20:32

A senior prison doctor who was the only remaining defendant in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was fully acquitted by a jury on Friday.

Dmitry Kratov, former deputy head of Butyrka prison in charge of medical affairs, was found not guilty of negligence by Moscow's Tverskoi District Court, Rapsi reported Friday.

The court sided with the prosecutor, Dmitry Bokov, who said there was no link between Kratov's actions and Magnitsky's death.

While Bokov said during the hearings that Kratov "failed to organize the necessary diagnostic and treatment measures, which resulted in Magnitsky's death," he said that the prison official hadn't received any complaints from Magnitsky about his health, nor had he been informed by other staff members.

Magnitsky was held in Butyrka before being transferred to Matrosskaya Tishina prison, where he died in November 2009. He was incarcerated on tax evasion charges shortly after accusing tax and police officials of embezzling $230 million.
In an e-mail in June, Hermitage Capital called the investigation a "farce" because Kratov was "not even present at Matrosskaya Tishina."

Hermitage Capital founder Bill Browder has called Kratov a "scapegoat" and accused President Vladimir Putin of influencing the prosecution.

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